4/13 Game Recap: Angels defeat Mets, 14-2

The Mets lost to the LA Angels today by a score of 14-2 in the rubber game of their series in Anaheim.

April 13, 2014; Anaheim, CA, USA; New York Mets manager

(10) argues a call with home plate umpire Toby Basner (left) during the seventh inning at Angel Stadium of Anaheim. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

Bartolo Colon started on the mound for New York, taking on C.J. Wilson. After pitching seven shutout innings against the Braves earlier this week, Colon did not have a good start, to put it nicely. He allowed nine runs on eleven hits — a career high eight of which were for extra bases — and two walks in just five innings pitched. His nine runs surrendered matches a career high for Colon, who gave up nine with the Angels in a 2005 start against the Yankees.

Game Recap:

The Mets were able to scratch one off of Wilson early. Eric Young Jr. led off the first with a walk, followed by a Daniel Murphy groundout to move him over, and a David Wright RBI single to score the first run of the game. Worth noting is the fact that Young now has three runs scored in the last four first innings.

The team’s 1-0 lead didn’t last for long, though, as Colon surrendered back-to-back-to-back solo home runs to Mike Trout, Albert Pujols, and Raul Ibanez in the bottom of the first. He then allowed two more extra-base hits from Kole Calhoun and Ian Stewart to bring the Angels’ lead to 4-1. It was obvious that Colon — who gave up 14 home runs in all of 2013 — had no life on his fastball today. It marked the first time a Met pitcher had given up a home run to three straight batters since Johan Santana did in 2012 against the Dodgers. Also, after today, Met pitchers have allowed 20 home runs, the most in MLB.

New York had two hits and a walk in the second, but were unable to take advantage against Wilson. It certainly didn’t help that home plate umpire Tony Basner had an inconsistent strike zone and made awful calls throughout the entire game.

Colon bounced back, around his first walk of the season, to have a clean second and third inning. But in the fourth, the Angels got to him again. Stewart led off with a walk, and after Hank Conger doubled, Erick Aybar hit a two-run triple to drive them both in. Then J.B. Shuck singled to bring LA’s lead to 7-1.

Down by six runs, the Mets struck back against Wilson in the fifth. Lagares extended his hit streak to 8 games with a single, marking his fourth multi-hit game this season. Travis d’Arnaud, making his first start since he homered in Friday night’s game, singled thereafter. Young’s double-play scored Lagares to cut the lead to 7-2.

Colon was left in to eat innings, but it didn’t turn out well. In the fifth, Howie Kendrick singled off of him, which marked every Angels starter having a hit. Two batters later, Conger hit a two-run home run to make it 9-2.

Scott Rice took over in the bottom of the sixth, but his command was off. He allowed two hits before Ibanez walked in a run. He then threw a wild pitch, allowing a second bases-loaded run to score and the Angels to go up 11-2.

In the seventh, after questionable called strikes during d’Arnaud’s at-bat, the Mets finally fought back against home plate umpire Basner. Wright and Murphy were eventually ejected.

Jeurys Familia pitched a scoreless seventh inning of relief, but John Lannan‘s eight inning wasn’t pretty. Calhoun tripled, and a wild pitch scored him for the 12th run of the game. After the next batter walked, Stewart hit a two-run home run to make it 14-2.

Thoughts:

To say this was an ugly loss for the Mets would be an understatement. Met pitching allowed 14 runs on 17 hits, including five home runs, four doubles, and two triples — tied for the second-most extra-base hits allowed in Mets history.

Today’s loss was even worse after the team lost by a walk-off hit by pitch on Friday and only won yesterday after blowing a three-run lead in the bottom of the ninth. On top of this, both games went into extra innings.

Had the Mets won today, it would’ve marked their second road-series win in a row. Despite this, though, the team is only 5-7 and has a lot to build off of. If their starting pitching — which has one of the highest combined ERAs in the National League — can improve, the team might just be okay.

Next Up:

The Mets will fly to Arizona to face the Diamondbacks in a three-game series beginning tomorrow night. Zack Wheeler (0-2, 5.73 ERA) will face Josh Collmenter (0-0, 2.25 ERA) at 9:40PM EST.